Smokey Robinson formed the Miracle while still attending high school in Detroit. In 1957 Berry Gordy Jr., creator of Motown Records, began producing the group's music on his fledgling label, and together they scored their first big hit with "Shop Around" in 1960. Robinson and the Miracles went on to score 27 Top 40 hits for Motown, and Smokey wrote and produced some of the label's biggest hits for other artists (including Mary Wells's "My Guy" and the Temptations' "My Girl"). In 1972, Smokey split with the group to pursue a solo career, and the band returned to its original name, the Miracles, experiencing huge success in the mid-'70s with "Love Machine (Part 1)." Smokey has continued to release albums on his own, including 1975's A Quiet Storm, which became the term that defined an entire genre of smooth, contemporary R&B. In 1987, Robinson, along with the Miracles, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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